The Price of Conquest

"I want everyone's prep reports by tomorrow afternoon, Istep time," Halav said.

Kressa looked back to the large comm screen on the wall opposite the general's desk. Separate images showed the faces of six of the Arecian Guard's high-ranking officers. Halav had arranged for the video conference shortly after Jonathan left for Vsuna. The general had asked Kressa to stay and talk to the officers about what she learned regarding the th'Maran. Once she completed her report, they spent the next hour or so clarifying details. Fortunately, they seemed to have finally run out of questions.

Without warning, the images on the screen jumped and flickered, steadied, and then went black.

Brow furrowed, Halav worked the comm controls, but the screen remained blank. He pulled a commlink from his jacket pocket and switched through the channels until he found a signal.

A broken, static-filled voice crackled through the link. "… reports of… All stations and cities reporting… government buildings and Guard ins… Patrol involvement verified. Repeat: Patrol forces…" The signal faded then disappeared.

Kressa swallowed hard. "Did he say 'Patrol'?"

The lights in the room went out. An instant later, dim yellow emergency lighting came on.

"Halav, what—?"

He held up a hand, his face blank, tawny eyes hooded. Kressa recognized the expression; he was making plans.

"Are you armed?" he asked.

"I've got a stunner Jonathan gave me."

He opened a desk drawer, withdrew a pulse gun, and tossed it to her.

She checked the charge on the gun; it was full. "How can Pattys be here? We would've detected their ships."

Halav shook his head. "No ships yet, although I'm sure they'll be here soon. The Patrol's attacking from all over Arecia." He began rummaging through the flexprints and other items on his desk. He dumped most of them into the recycler but shoved a few things into a small, black carry-all. "We've found th'Maran temples in every major city. A lot of them showed signs of having had Patrol nests like the one you and Westlex found here in Cint-Istep. We've been working to clear them out, but it's been difficult to find out where they go after they leave the temples. No one seems to remember anything."

"The th'Maran may have something to do with that," Kressa said.

"Or the Patrol's being extra careful." He continued clearing his desk. "We think they've been moving people onto Arecia for months, waiting for the signal to move. It looks like they just got it." He glanced at her. "Check the rest of the offices. I think everyone's gone home for the night, but if you find anyone, tell them to go to the main conference room and wait there."

"What are you going to do?"

"Data dump the local network in case the Patrol forces find their way down here." He met her eyes. "Get going."

Kressa dashed out of the office. She paused at the outer waiting room door and peered into the dim hallway beyond. It looked clear. She made her way to the end of the corridor, checking the offices and other rooms as she went, but found no one. She searched the rooms in the adjoining corridor with the same result.

On the way back to Halav's office, she stopped at the lift. The controls were dark. She eased open the door to the emergency stairs. Yellow light filled the stairwell. She listened for anyone coming down but heard nothing. She closed the door and hurried back to Halav's office.

He reached for a pulse gun lying on his desk as she entered.

"It's just me," she said. "There's no one else here."

He ejected the memory unit from his computer and put it in the carry-all. "Let's go." He snapped the bag shut, draped the strap over his shoulder, picked up his gun, and started for the door.

When they reached the main corridor, Kressa turned toward the stairs, not looking forward to the long climb up to the main building. She'd never been told just how far underground the Guard offices were, but she knew it was quite a distance.

"No, this way." Halav headed in the opposite direction.

Kressa started to question him, then shrugged and followed.

He entered the main conference room, made his way to the comm panel on the room's back wall, and touched his thumb to the upper left corner. The panel swung open, revealing a scanplate inset in the wall behind it. He pressed his hand against it. A moment later, a door-sized section of the side wall slid open, revealing the base of a metal stairway.

Kressa thought back over a decade to her first tour of Guard headquarters and its emergency procedures and escape routes. "Is that new?" she asked. "I don't remember it."

"It's not new. We don't show anybody everything." He gave her a half-smile. "You can't give away what you don't know." He closed the comm unit and slipped through the opening. "Come on."

Once they were both inside, he secured the wall panel and motioned Kressa up the steep stairway ahead of him.

She started climbing. "Where does this go?"

"The aircar pad on the roof of the north wing."

"That's the short wing, right?" she asked hopefully.

"Right. Only ten stories."

She glanced up the seemingly endless stairway. "How far is it to ground level?"

"Just keep going."

Around the time Kressa's thigh muscles began to let her know they'd had enough of the steep climb, the stairs ended in a small landing with a manually operated door on one wall. She raised her gun and reached for the door handle.

"Wait." Halav took hold of her arm. "Let's see what's out there first."

"That's what I was going to do."

He smiled and touched a spot in the middle of the door. A small, square area of the barrier turned clear, revealing the dim yellow emergency lighting of the aircar pad.

"The panel's made out of varipaque," Halav explained. "It's set to one-way transparency."

"Your security guys think of everything."

"That's what we pay them for." He looked through the window, and Kressa peered out after him.

A dozen sleek two- and four-person aircars sat scattered across the wide rooftop. Two larger aircars covered with police insignia and lights sat in the center of the pad, surrounded by white-uniformed figures.

Kressa pulled back from the window. "There must be thirty Patrolmen out there."

Halav nodded, his expression grim. "They're using local police force troop carriers. I wonder if they had people working on the inside or just moved in and took over."

"Does it matter?" Kressa asked. "Either way, it kills our chance of getting an aircar. Maybe we can get down to the garage and grab a groundcar instead."

Halav continued to watch the activity on the roof. "I'm sure the Patrol has all of the garage exits blocked. Besides, I've got one of the best pilots on Arecia with me. I'm not going to put her behind the controls of a groundcar." He watched through the window for another moment. "I think we just got lucky."

Kressa peered out again. The Patrolmen had split into two uneven groups. The larger was moving in formation toward the building's main tower at a disciplined jog. The remaining eight soldiers spread out in pairs to take up positions around the pad.

"Which one of those cars is yours?" Kressa asked.

"Take your pick. All of the black Runners are in the government pool." He pulled a control fob out of his trouser pocket and handed it to her. "This works with all of them."

Kressa glanced at the controller. There was a numbered selector at the top with controls for lights, doors, and engine-start below it. She looked outside again.

Seven of the aircars were black Runners, including the nearest, a two-seater with a small numeral three above the pilot's door. It sat less than five meters away with the pilot's door facing them, probably not by chance, given the rest of the security measures. She looked beyond it to the other cars and the Patrolmen spread across the rooftop, and then further to the disturbingly empty skies above the city. Even this late at night, there should be some traffic.

"When I give the word," she said, "head for the nearest car."

Halav positioned himself beside the door, pulse gun in one hand, his other on the handle.

Kressa noted the numbers on the farthest Runners. She selected the first one on the controller, hit the light and engine-start buttons, and then followed with four more in rapid succession.

The Patrolmen drew their weapons and charged toward the suddenly lighted, running vehicles.

"Let's go," Kressa said.

Halav pushed the door open far enough to slip out. Kressa followed, and he closed the door behind her. She glanced back. The door had all but disappeared; only a narrow seam showed on the dark, reflective glasteel that formed the outer wall. There was no handle.

Halav dashed for the Runner. Kressa unlocked the doors using the controller, and hurried after him.

"There's someone near the building!" one of the Patrolmen shouted.

A pulse blast burned past Kressa. She fired back and kept running.

Halav reached the aircar and leaned around it to lay down covering fire for her.

She joined him beside the car. "Get in!" She started the engine using the controller, fired another series of shots to hold back the approaching Patrolmen, then slid into the cockpit.

Halav had strapped into the passenger seat and was watching out the side window.

A pulse blast sizzled into the window just above his head, blackening and distorting the surface. He flinched away. Another round of shots slammed into the car's side.

"I don't suppose this thing is armored," Kressa said as she fastened her safety harness, released the parking clamps, and ramped up the repulsors, easing the car off the roof.

"It's an aircar, Kressa, not a fighter."

"Let's hope it flies like a fighter." She extended the airfoils, retracted the landing gear, and powered the car in a steep bank toward the nearest edge of the building, presenting the Patrolmen with little more than the Runner's underside for a target.

Pulse shots pounded against the car's belly. One of them slammed into the right airfoil; the car bucked and started to roll.

Kressa cursed and fought the yoke. She brought the car back under control as they reached the edge of the roof. She put the Runner into a steep dive over the side, but leveled out when she saw what waited below.

Police aircars and groundcars covered the quad. As she watched, one of the smaller aircars lifted from the ground and flew toward them.

"I think our friends on the roof told someone we were coming." She gave the Runner more power and banked toward the cluster of downtown high rises to the north.

"Our friends on the roof are coming themselves." Halav pointed out the side window as one of the police troop carriers crested over the building's edge and rolled toward them.

Kressa powered the Runner toward the empty downtown streets, hoping to lose their pursuers in the narrow canyons between the buildings.

"You know it's illegal to fly an aircar this low," Halav said, his voice and expression completely deadpan.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Yeah? Maybe that's why those police cars are after us." She steered the Runner into a sharp left turn down a city street. The car balked and barely made the turn. "Damn! I think that last hit damaged one of the stabilizers." She checked behind them. The smaller aircar rounded the corner, but the larger, less maneuverable troop carrier missed the turn. "Hold on. I'm going to get some room to test that stabilizer."

She tilted the Runner nose-up on its thrusters and gave it full power. It shot skyward, almost vertical, and the sides of the buildings streaked past in a blur. They reached the top of the nearest high rise and soared above the roof, still climbing. She saw neither of their pursuers, but knew that the smaller car, at least, couldn't be far behind.

"Keep an eye out for our friends from HQ." She pushed the Runner to a higher altitude and put it through a series of maneuvers to test the stability of the damaged airfoil. Each time she steered left sharply, the nose tried to come up and flip the car into a three-quarter roll.

"How bad is it?" Halav asked.

"Bad, but not impossible." She dove back toward the cover of the buildings. "If I arrange things right, I might even be able to use it to our advantage."

"Here comes the troop carrier." Halav pointed over his right shoulder.

Kressa glanced back. The carrier appeared above the edge of one of the buildings and sped toward them. Kressa held her speed, allowing the carrier to draw nearer, and flew the Runner over a gap between two buildings.

"Hang onto something." Meters before they reached the second building, she feigned a sharp turn to the right. The troop carrier banked to follow her. At the last instant, she threw the Runner into a sudden left and used the damaged airfoil to flip the car up and over, then dove straight down the face of the building.

The troop carrier struggled to follow, but the large vehicle could not match the Runner's move. The carrier clipped the edge of the building's roof and started to roll. Chunks of metal and glasteel rained down, and Kressa lost sight of the vehicle as it careened across the roof.

"I don't think we'll be seeing them again," Halav said.

The lights of the smaller aircar appeared behind them.

"Probably not," Kressa said, "but here come their friends." She gave the Runner more speed and whipped through a series of quick turns, fighting the controls each time she steered left. The other car stayed with them.

"We're not going to be able to lose this guy again." She glanced around to get her bearings, made a sharp right turn onto a long, straight stretch of roadway, and powered the Runner toward the street. She leveled out less than five meters above the hardtop and decreased her speed.

The pursuing car drew nearer and began to maneuver into a position to force the Runner down.

Kressa continued to slow. When the pursuing vehicle was only a few meters behind, she hit the forward braking thrusters and maxed the Runner's repulsors, sending the car almost straight up with little forward momentum.

The other car streaked by underneath them. Kressa dove toward it, lowered the landing skids, and slammed the Runner hard against its roof, sending it crashing into the roadway beneath.

Sparks exploded around the hapless vehicle, and jagged pieces of plasteel and metal trailed behind it as it slid along the hardtop, out of control.

Kressa tilted the Runner into a steep climb away from the street, then sped around another corner. "Where to now?"

"We've got to get rid of this car. The Patrol's probably got half the city looking for it." He switched on the car's comm.

"What are you doing?" Kressa asked. She glided the Runner close to the road again and began to search for someplace to hide it.

"I want to check the civilian and traffic control bands. Maybe we can find out more about what's going on." He tuned to one of the traffic channels.

"… grounded until further notice," an authoritative voice came over the comm. "Vehicles without logged flight plans must proceed to the nearest safe landing zone and land immediately. Remain within your vehicles until otherwise instructed. Vehicles with logged flight plans, proceed to your next logged destination and await further instructions. These orders are effective until further notice. Continue to monitor this channel for updates. This message will repeat." There was a short pause. "This is Arecian air and space traffic control. All traffic is grounded until further—"

Halav scowled and checked the other channels. They all played the same message. He switched to one of the civilian bands.

"… remain calm and stay inside. Anyone found on the streets between sunset and sunrise will be detained. Unauthorized vehicles will be stopped and their occupants taken into custody for the duration of the emergency. Continue to monitor this channel for additional information. Please remain calm and stay—"

Halav turned off the comm and stared out the window, expressionless.

Kressa glanced at him with a worried frown. "Thinking?" she asked.

"Trying not to, actually. Turn right at the next corner. There's an apartment building with an underground garage on the left, about halfway down. We can lose the Runner there and try to find a less conspicuous vehicle."

Kressa turned the corner and retracted the airfoils. She eased the Runner along the street using only the repulsors and thrusters until she located the garage entrance.

As she steered the aircar onto the ramp that led beneath the building, lights from another vehicle appeared at the far end of the street. Kressa punched the thrusters, and the Runner shot down the ramp into the garage.

"Do you think they saw us?" Halav asked.

"I'm going to assume they did." She maneuvered the aircar to the second underground level and set it down across a row of empty parking spots. She shut down the engine, unfastened the safety harness, and stepped out, keeping an eye and ear turned toward the ramp as she scanned the garage.

Halav joined her, the carry-all slung over his shoulder.

"This way." She started toward a bank of lifts against the back wall.

When they reached the lifts, Kressa pressed the call button and glanced at the ramp behind them. The hum of a groundcar echoed from the upper level. She pressed the call button again in frustration. "Hurry up."

One of the lift doors slid open, and Halav started inside.

"No," Kressa said. "Wait here." She leaned in, ran her hand up the controls to activate the button for every floor, and then pressed the door-close button. "Follow me." She dashed away from the lifts, headed toward the ramp down to the next level.

As they neared the top of the ramp, Kressa noticed a nondescript door in the far corner. She turned toward it. "Change of plans. Let's hope our luck holds."

Behind them, the groundcar started down the ramp from the level above. A moment later, the sound of a second car joined it.

Kressa ran toward the door, slipped between two cars parked nearby, and hunkered down. Halav ducked in beside her just as a police groundcar appeared at the bottom of the ramp and started to cruise their level. The car slowed as it passed the grounded aircar, then idled over to the lifts and stopped. The second police car reached their level. It eased to a halt beside the first, and a Patrolmen climbed out of each of the vehicles, pulse guns drawn.

"Looks like they took the lift," one of them said and slapped the call button. "Take the stairs," he ordered his companion. "See if you can head them off, and make sure they don't double back." He unclipped a commlink from his belt as the other soldier started up the stairway. "This is unit eight-four," he spoke into the link. "I've located the Runner from the government building." One of the lifts opened, and the Patrolman stepped inside, still talking. "Send a third unit to…" The lift door slid shut.

Halav nodded toward the two police cars. "There's the car we need."

"That's the type of car we need," Kressa said. "If we take one of those, I doubt we'll get far. As soon as the Pattys discover it's missing, they'll be able to guess who took it and track the car right to us." She looked at the door in the corner. A sign on the barrier read 'Maintenance Personnel Only.' "What we need is a car like that without anyone realizing we've taken it."

"You got some way to get one?" Halav asked.

"I might. Come on." She dashed to the maintenance door.

A dim green light glowed from the small lock panel to the left of the barrier. Kressa touched the control, and the door slid open, revealing a small chamber with concrete stairs leading up and down.

"Trust maintenance personnel to leave doors unlocked," she said with a grin, and then stepped through the opening.

Halav closed the door behind them.

Kressa bounded up the stairs. Two flights up, at ground level, three doors opened onto the landing. Signs identified the doors as leading to a storeroom, the building's first floor, and the west alley.

The alley door was locked from the inside. Kressa unlocked and opened it. The light from inside the small landing spilled into a narrow passage between two buildings. She led Halav outside and closed the door, plunging them into darkness lit only by the diffuse glow of street lamps beyond the alleyway.

"Are you up for a bit of a jog?" she asked. "I'd like to put some distance between us and this place before we try anything."

"Lead on."

Kressa trotted to the south end of the alley with Halav close behind her. She scanned the road beyond the alley's opening, dashed across it, and ducked into another alleyway.

Keeping to a roughly southerly course, she led Halav through a series of alleys and narrow side streets leading away from downtown. Gradually, the high rise office buildings and pricey living units gave way to older, less glamorous hotels, small businesses, and housing plexes. At one point, Kressa detected the hum of a groundcar moving away from them. A block later, a single dark figure dashed across the road ahead and disappeared around a corner. They saw no one else, and only an occasional raised voice or the drone of a comm report from behind a closed door or window gave any indication that people remained in the city.

After about ten blocks, Kressa stopped near the end of an alley to catch her breath. She'd kept the pace easy, but the high temperature and humidity made even mild exertion tiring.

Halav drew up beside her and sleeved a thin layer of sweat from his face.

She studied him for a moment.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing. Just… take off your jacket."

He removed the light uniform jacket he wore, and returned the carry-all to his shoulder.

Kressa gave him another appraising glance, unfastened his shirt collar, pulled it open, and then tugged his shirt tails free from his waistband.

Halav raised an eyebrow. "If you want me that badly…"

She gave him a friendly sneer, then unfastened his shirt cuffs and pushed them up toward his elbows. "Just trying to make you look less like a general." She took the jacket from him and draped it over her arm so that none of the insignia showed. "Come on." She made her way to the alley's end and peered out.

Halav glanced out after her. "Anything interesting?"

She shook her head. "Unfortunately, no, but keep your ears open. It's time to find a car." She stepped out of the alley and started along the sidewalk, headed west.

They walked for another three blocks before the purr of a groundcar reached their ears.

Kressa paused to listen carefully. "It's headed this way."

Halav turned his head to pinpoint the sound. "One block over, I think, coming from the north." He started toward the adjoining street, and Kressa followed him.

"We've had too much to drink," she said as they turned the corner. The sound of the car echoed between the buildings ahead of them.

"You wish," Halav said with a smile, but he started to stumble drunkenly as he made his way down the sidewalk.

Kressa drew her stunner, adjusted Halav's jacket so it hid the weapon, then hooked her other arm around his and weaved down the walkway beside him.

A moment later, a police groundcar came into view ahead of them. It slowed as it approached, then pulled over a few meters in front of them. A Patrolman wearing the insignia of Admiral Shaw's fleet climbed out. His hand rested on the grip of the heavy pulse gun at his side.

"What are you two doing?" he asked. "Haven't you heard the—?"

Kressa fired the stunner. The Patrolman collapsed against the side of the car and slid to the ground.

While Halav removed the soldier's weapon and commlink, Kressa located two sets of security cuffs inside the car.

"Should we take him with us or leave him here?" she asked.

Halav glanced around. "Let's leave him in that alley." He nodded toward a dark opening a few meters down the street, then secured the soldier's wrists and ankles with the cuffs. Together, he and Kressa hauled the man's limp form into the alley. They deposited him in a recessed doorway about halfway down, then hurried back to the car.

"You drive," Halav said and climbed into the passenger seat.

"Where to?" Kressa asked.

"Just cruise around for a bit. I want to see what's going on."

Everywhere they went, the city remained quiet. The few people they saw scurried away when the car drew close enough to reveal its official markings. The only activity they found were small gatherings of police vehicles and Patrolmen surrounding an occasional bar or nightclub.

"Notice any pattern to these raids?" Kressa asked as she steered the car away from yet another gathering of police vehicles.

Halav watched the scene, expressionless. "Surgical strike against the Guard. They're only hitting our hangouts."

"Someone spilled some damn good information," Kressa said. "Do you think it was that guy they picked up on Terra?"

"Could be. They've all been conditioned against talking, but if what you said about the th'Maran Triad is true, I don't think any kind of conditioning would help. I'm just grateful I haven't released the news about the new base yet. Another few days and everyone would've known about it." He stared out the front window. "I'll give your father one thing. He's making a damn smart move against us."

Kressa glanced at him in surprise. "My father? Did Jonathan tell you that?"

Halav nodded and looked at her. "What I'd like to know is why you never told me."

"Would it have made a difference?" she asked.

"It might have."

"Then you've answered your own question." Kressa took a deep breath, struggling to ignore the tangle of confused emotions suddenly clamoring for her attention. "What's Shaw doing that you think is so smart?"

"Hitting only the Guard, hardly touching the civilians. First, he's won the people over with the th'Maran temples, now he's being careful to hurt them as little as possible with this attack. He knows he needs the people's support, and he's doing everything in his power to keep it." He watched the city roll by for a short while longer, and then sighed. "I've seen enough. Let's find a place to hole up."

"Any place you think might be safe?"

"Let's try the waterfront," he said. "There's nothing out there to interest the Patrol. We can dump the car before they discover it's been taken and start a full-scale search for it. We'll hide out until morning, then find another car and try to make it up to the base."

Kressa steered down a street running west toward the coast.

Minutes later, they reached the seaport. Kressa maneuvered the car through the ranks of silent buildings along the waterfront, drove out onto a dock, and braked to a gentle stop at the end of a long pier.

"End of the ride." She climbed out of the car.

Warmth from the recent heat wave intensified the odors of brine and rotting fish. Nothing moved, and only the gentle lap of water against the pier and the quiet purr of the car's engine broke the silence.

"Find us a place to hide," she said. "I'll get rid of the car."

Halav moved off at a trot, pulse gun in hand.

Kressa leaned into the car, eased the controls forward, and watched the vehicle drive itself off the pier. The car hit the water with a loud splash and floated for a moment, its engine sputtering, then the water crested over its roof and the sound died away. Only the splash of the miniature whirlpool it formed as it sank marked the car's passing, then even that disappeared.

With a last glance into the disturbingly quiet city and silent, empty skies above, Kressa turned and started after Halav, wondering how the rest of Arecia fared.